TEL AVIV – Israel’s airstrike in Syria Sunday was coordinated with Turkey, which in turn coordinated rebel attacks throughout Syria timed to coincide with the Israeli strike, according to Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence sources speaking to WND.

The sources said the rebels did not know about the Israeli strike in advance, but instead were given specific instructions for when to begin today’s major assaults against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Almost the moment the Israel Air Force departed was the moment the rebel advance began,” added the Egyptian intelligence source.

Multiple reports have noted how the Syrian rebels consist in large part of al-Qaida-linked jihad groups.

The Egyptian and Jordanian sources described to WND how immediately after today’s Israeli air strike the jihadist rebels used access roads to advance toward Damascus and began heavy clashes with Syrian military forces throughout the country.

According to the sources, the rebels initiated clashes with Syrian forces in northeast Rankous in Damascus; Daraya city in the Damascus countryside; and also in the villages of Homms, al-Alqamieh, Tunaibeh and Menneg in the Aleppo countryside.

Syria claims it repelled most of Sunday’s rebel advances.

Large explosions rocked Damascus earlier today with Syria blaming Israel for the strikes, which reportedly targeted a military research center in Jamraya near Damascus.

The reports followed confirmations Saturday by anonymous Israeli officials that the Israel Air Force had carried out a strike against Syria on Friday targeting a shipment of advanced missiles bound for Hezbollah.

The New York Times quoted U.S. officials saying the strike targeted Iranian Fateh-110 missiles headed for Hezbollah.

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi was quoted by state-run media saying the Israeli air strikes “opens the door to all possibilities.”

Lebanese media quoted Seyed Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, as saying: “Resistance forces will respond to the Israeli aggression.”